soul music

A 60's version of rhythm and blues; a big part of its origins is gospel music - soul started basically as a secularized version of it (early stars were established gospel singers like Sam Cooke and Bobby Womack). Rather than the object of desire being divine (as in gospel), it was one's SO. It all branched out from there, with various subgenres sprouting, in Detroit, Memphis, Muscle Shoals, Philadelphia, Chicago, New Orleans, and other locales.

Imp/Buddy y Celon (Celon meaning "of the holly" in Imp's home country): A young non-druid from a land full of them, he leaves vowing to become the greatest musician ever. Unfortunately, gods tend to pick up on that sort of thing, and Imp's life is hijacked by a rather strange, otherworldly guitar.

Glod Glodsson and Lias/Cliff Bluestone: A dwarf and a troll, and along with Imp, they form the Band with Rocks In. One of the best lines of the book, said by Cliff, "They won't stop us, we're on a mission from Glod".

During the first part of the '60s, soul music remained close to its R&B roots. However, musicians pushed the music in different directions; usually, different regions of America produced different kinds of soul. In urban centers like New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago, the music concentrated on vocal interplay and smooth productions. In Detroit, Motown concentrated on creating a pop-oriented sound that was informed equally by gospel, R&B, and rock & roll. In the south, the music became harder and tougher, relying on syncopated rhythms, raw vocals, and blaring horns. All of these styles formed soul, which ruled the black music charts throughout the '60s and also frequently crossed over into the pop charts.

At the end of the '60s, soul began to splinter apart, as artists like James Brown and Sly Stone developed funk, and other artists developed slicker forms of soul. Although soul music evolved, it never went away -- not only did the music inform all of the R&B of the '70s, '80s, and '90s, there were always pockets of musicians around the world that kept performing traditional soul.